


You know, you'll always know me

by pinkbelle



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:21:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28364571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkbelle/pseuds/pinkbelle
Summary: “Jesus, kid,” he exhaled, shaking his head in disbelief, “do you have any idea how much you scared me? After everything that’s happened, how do you still not understand that I need you to be safe?”El's deep brown eyes sparkled, the anger morphing into disbelief. “What about what I need?” she demanded. He looked at the girl in front of him in confusion. “I need you to be safe too.”
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper & Jim "Chief" Hopper
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	You know, you'll always know me

**Author's Note:**

> Well, hello there - long time no see, AO3 (in a posting capacity anyway). It's been a minute, and I have nothing to say for that other than a combination of writer's block, academic writing, work and this year being a general dumpster fire serving as a flamethrower to my creativity. I'm not in love with this piece, but I wanted to just get back to it so here you go. classicallybookish here on AO3 picked this prompt for me, and it's a non-specific excuse for me to continue feeding my ST withdrawal. I've written for ST before but never published, it's outside of my MCU comfort zone for fanfics, so I'm more than open to opinions on this. Bonus points if you get the movie reference, and title unsurprisingly is a lyric from Dorothea on evermore.

Prompt: “I can’t imagine my life without you in it. You are so important to me, you are such a big part of my life, that I just...I can’t imagine you not here.”

* * *

Jim slammed the door behind him, already turning to El. “Don’t even think about it,” he warned, and the scowl that crossed her face let him know that she understood the demand to stay in the living room rather than go straight into her bedroom. 

He took a deep breath, trying to bring his temper down before speaking. “Do you have any idea how stupid that was?” he asked as evenly as he could manage.

“I had to do something,” El replied flatly, the glint anger that had been present in her eyes since Jim had first torn into her over her actions that evening flaring. 

“No, you didn’t,” Jim shot back, taking a step towards her. “Jesus, kid,” he exhaled, shaking his head in disbelief, “do you have any idea how much you scared me? After everything that’s happened, how do you still not understand that I need you to be safe?”

Her deep brown eyes sparkled, the anger morphing into disbelief. “What about what I need?” she demanded. He looked at the girl in front of him in confusion.

“What?” 

“What  _ I  _ need,” she repeated through gritted teeth, her hands curled into tight fists by her side. “I need you to be safe too.”

Jim waved her concern off with a shrug, shaking his head. “That’s not for you to worry about, that’s my job as the adult, as the parent-”

“That’s the whole point!” she yelled, the increase in volume a startling change to the atmosphere in the room. Her face was flushed, the red tinge to her cheeks from the exertion of the evening the same shade as the traces of dried blood underneath her nose. “You’re my parent, I can’t think about not having you in my life anymore. You’re too important to me, I can’t…,” she trailed off, no longer shouting but speaking in a quiet voice - Jim wasn’t sure that he didn’t hear a slight catch to it. “I can’t imagine you not being here.”

He sighed, tiredly running a hand over his hair as he had a tendency to do when he was frustrated.  _ And that’s the real problem _ , he thought to himself, thinking they’d nailed the real issue. “Kid, I’ve got a plan, okay?” Walking to stand directly in front of El, placing a gentle hand on either shoulder of his daughter, he tried to make his tone as soothing as possible to reassure her. “If anything happens to me you’ll stay with Joyce and the boys, you’ll never be left by yourself again.”

El shrugged out from under his hold and practically stomped her foot, if it were any other time he’d have ribbed her for the behavior he was pretty sure she picked up from Nancy Wheeler. “That’s not what I’m worried about!”

Jim threw his hands up in exasperation. “Then what?” 

“Prom.”

Any response he could have prepared was wiped from his mind as the non-sequitur answer she’d given threw him for a loop. “Prom?” he repeated slowly.

“Finding a dress for the prom,” El drew out the single-syllable word, carefully repeating the word he’d heard Max explain to her the other day when the two were pouring over the  _ Young Miss _ magazine he’d picked up on a whim in the grocery store. “You’re supposed to teach me to drive and play games.” 

Jim’s heart sunk at the teenager’s admission, the disjointed pieces of her defence falling into place. “El-”

“ _ No _ .” There were tears in her eyes, and as one escaped and fell down her cheek she swiped at it angrily with the cuff of her sleeve before crossing her arms protectively over the white long sleeve shirt ‘ _ Remember boys, no points for second place’  _ she was wearing. “You looked for me.” Her voice was quiet now, and it took Jim back to the girl he’d left the Eggos out for that didn’t say a word for the first week they were in the cabin. “Everyone left me,” she continued, “but you looked for me.”

“Kid,” Jim’s heart was broken. The two had their share of issues since he’d unofficially adopted El (although the birth certificate procured after she closed the gate made it a done-deal as far as the law was concerned), but he knew that the little family they’d made for themselves meant as much to her as it did to him. There were moments when he’d catch sight of her doing something mundane, laying on her bed reading a book or putting a plate back in the cabinet after clearing the table, and it would take him by surprise each time he remembered that they’d only been  _ them _ for less than three years. 

“I’m strong,” she stated quietly, “and I could do something. I had to do something.”

Jim didn’t respond, but instead closed the gap between the two of them and pulled her into a hug. 

“Alright,” he acquiesced, “you’re right. Sometimes I forget that you’re not just a kid, I promise I’ll try to -”

“Not go bananas?”

Jim scoffed. “You’re not allowed to spend time with Max anymore.” He turned his cheek to press a kiss to the top of her messy curls. “I’ll try to remember that, and we’ll both be more careful.”

“And not stupid,” came a muffled response from where El’s face was pressed against his shirt.

He smiled. “Yeah, and not stupid.”


End file.
